Throwback Tuesday: Roosters Rolled (Twice)

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But while that clash was absorbing and exciting, for Broncos members and fans the NRL Preliminary Final five months later was breathtaking.

Needing to win to qualify for their seventh NRL Grand Final, the Broncos scored one of the most freakish opening tries in NRL Finals history and set the scene for what was their most exhilarating victory of the season 31-12.

In front of a ground-record home crowd of 51,826 people, the win took devotees back to the halcyon days of the Broncos when the team feared nothing and played a free-flowing brand of attacking football.

While the six tries to two victory was resounding, that first try became the major talking point.

The game was a mere 48 seconds old when fullback Darius Boyd, chasing a Ben Hunt kick after the first set of the match, latched onto a long wayward pass from winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall and scored between the posts untouched.

From there the Broncos were never headed, although nerves became somewhat frayed when the Roosters scored back-to-back tries in the 23rd and 28th minutes for a 16-12 scoreline.

But a try to barnstorming winger Corey Oates just eight seconds before half-time returned the ascendency to the Broncos and a second-half shut-out gave them their saloon passage into the 2015 Grand Final.

At times sublime in 2015, this was arguably their most complete performance.

And while each of their six tries were scored as a result of a smorgasbord of attacking play, it was again their defence that held strong against the best attacking team in the competition.

Hooker Andrew McCullough was the workhorse, adding an unforgettable razzle-dazzle try to his 46 tackles; Adam Blair had his best game of the season; halves Hunt and Anthony Milford were wizards and 19-year-old winger Oates added to his reputation as a 2015 revelation.